Autonomous technology a threat to humanity, not AI: Toby Walsh

A machine doesn’t have to be that advanced in its artificial intelligence capabilities to be dangerous, it’s just needs to have a high level of autonomy, according to Toby Walsh, AI researcher at Data61 (formerly NICTA). Speaking at the recent 28th Australasian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Canberra, Walsh talked about autonomous weapons being the main cause of concern for humanity, rather than AI per se. “It’s actually not The Terminator that we need to worry about, it’s actually the more simpler technology. You can have very intelligent programs with very little consequences, so it’s not AI that is typically the threat,” Walsh said. Walsh gave an example of drones, which are not known for their advanced AI capabilities, but can be almost fully autonomous. A dumb drone that…